Top News:
Max Knoblauch / Sherwood News:
Morgan Stanley: ad tiers account for 30% of Netflix subscribers and 50% of Disney+ subscribers; ad tiers accounted for all US net subscriber additions in 2025 — As streaming prices climb, ad-free subscribers are becoming a rarity. — A mass digital migration is taking place …
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Interview with WPP CEO Cindy Rose, who says AI puts pressure on the ad agency's pricing and WPP has 10K data scientists and software engineers and 12K creatives — Advertising group's new CEO plans restructuring and says traditional agency model is from a ‘bygone era’
Discussion:
Semafor
Paul Glynn / BBC:
HarperCollins UK drops children's author and comedian David Walliams following allegations of inappropriate behavior toward young women — Best-selling children's author and comedian David Walliams has been dropped by his publisher HarperCollins UK, the company has said.
Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:
Lou Cannon, a veteran Washington Post reporter who wrote several influential biographies of Ronald Reagan, has died at 92 — He was a foremost authority on the president, tracing his career in unvarnished accounts from his time as California governor through his years in the White House.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Wrap, The Santa Barbara Independent and Los Angeles Times
Financial Times:
Memo: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says ByteDance's US entities will retain direct control over core US revenue drivers, including ecommerce, ads, and marketing — Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to invest in new data security joint venture as part of Trump-brokered deal
Discussion:
The Indian Express, @confunctionist.bsky.social, Reuters, The Information, Bloomberg, iPhone in Canada, Tom's Guide, Digital CxO, Inc, Marketing Brew, Tech Times, Daily Sabah, Mobile World Live, TechWire Asia, CNN, RTÉ, iClarified, China Economic Review, CNBC, Telecompaper, Pandaily, Yahoo Finance, TRT World, UPI, NDTV Profit, TechRadar, Dexerto, Tech in Asia, Sharecafe, Wall Street Journal, Cord Cutters News and NBC News
RELATED:
Ken Vogel / @kenvogel.bsky.social:
Politico ends its print edition after 19 years, as its early reliance on print ad revenue fades and its audience relies more on digital platforms — Politico's print paper was always something of a contradiction for an outlet that set out to prove that political journalism could thrive in the digital world.
Discussion:
@billkuchman.bsky.social and @kenvogel.bsky.social
Nicholas Henriquez / New Yorker:
The New Yorker has digitized its full archive covering 100 years, including covers and adding upgraded search capabilities; subscribers get unlimited access — For the first time, every cover, article, and issue in the magazine's hundred-year history can be enjoyed on newyorker.com.
Discussion:
Persuasion, @michaelluo.bsky.social, @tongli.bsky.social, @pgourevitch.bsky.social and Althouse
Karl Bode / Techdirt:
The TikTok deal is the worst of all possible outcomes, shifting ownership of TikTok to Trump's allies, while maintaining the supposed problematic links to China — There were rumblings about this for a while, but it looks like the Trump TikTok deal is done, and it's somehow the worst …
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Google sues data scraping company SerpApi for allegedly using hundreds of millions of fake search requests to access copyrighted material from Google products — Google on Friday sued a Texas company that “scrapes” data from online search results, alleging it uses hundreds of millions …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Netflix acquires avatar creation platform Ready Player Me to let its subscribers carry their personas and fandoms across games; the startup raised $72M — After shifting its gaming strategy to focus more on games played on the TV, Netflix announced it's acquiring Ready Player Me, an avatar creation platform based in Estonia.
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
The Kansas City Chiefs launch Foolish Club Studios, a first for an NFL team, to produce scripted and unscripted content that “might only be sports-adjacent” — The Kansas City Chiefs are the undisputed NFL team of choice for Swifties — but the team's ultimate goal is total world fandom domination.
Discussion:
Perez Hilton, The US Sun, Us Weekly and Chicago Tribune
Kirsten Chuba / The Hollywood Reporter:
TikTok's first awards show, held on December 18, handed out 14 awards, including Creator of the Year for Keith Lee; at the event, none of the screens worked — The event, which streamed live from the Hollywood Palladium on Thursday, handed out 14 awards and battled problems with its video screens.
Discussion:
Modern Diplomacy, Black Enterprise, Los Angeles Times, theJasmineBRAND, @popcrave, @crypticsanon, Cageside Press, TheGrio, Bossip, CP24, Sandra Rose, @jl3001.blacksky.app, BBC, Mashable, Variety and SAMAA TV
